Earth and the Environment MIDTERM DEFINITIONS

Define “Carrying Capacity

maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain given the necessities available in the environment

Define “Sustainability”

everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.

Define subduction

geological process that takes place at convergent boundary of tectonic plates where one plate moves under another and is forced to sink due to gravity into the mantle

Define paleomagnetism

the permanent magnetization acquired by rock that can be used to determine the location of the magnetic poles and the latitude of the rock at the time it became magnetized 

Define fault

a break in the rocks that make up the Earth’s crust, along which rocks on either side have moved past each other.

Define radioactive decay (parent to daughter)

the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy (or mass) by emitting radiation

Define Halflife

the amount of time it takes for the amount of a radioactive isotope to fall to half its original value

Define Minerals

inorganic, naturally occuring, soild, and has a paticular composition

Define rocks

solid, composed of one or more minerals or other minerals

Define foliation

refers to repetitive layering in matamorphic rocks

Define hot spot volcano

An area in the mantle from which heat rises as a thermal plume from deep in the Earth. High heat + lower pressure melts the rock

Define lahar

descibes a hot or cold mixture of water and rock fragments that flows down the slopes of a volcano

Pyroclastic flow

high-density mix of hot lava blocks, oumice, ash and volcanic gas

Lava flow

streams of molten rock that pour or ooze from an erupting vent

Ash fall

tiny jagged particles of rock and natural glass blasted into the air by a volcano

Define Earthquake Epicenter

point of the Earth’s surface directly above the focus

Define Earthquake focus

the point inside the Earth where the earthquake actually begins

Define p-waves

the first kind of boyd wave, primary

define s-wave

the second type of body wave, secondary

define Richter magnitude

mathematical device to compare the size of earthquakes

Define an earthquake’s intensity

number describing the severity of an earthquake in terms of its effect on the earth’s surface and on humans and their structures. SEVERAL scales exist

Define an earthquakes magnitude

one number to describe an earthquake

Define fault creep

any movement that involves a steady, gradual change in shape at the earth’s surface

define risk

the effect of uncertainty on objectives